3 Lessons from Puebla's Mezcal Industry
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Recently, the PROFECO, a Mexican institution in charge of protecting the consumer's rights, released the results of a study where it scrutinised 36 mezcal brands, in order to confirm whether they comply with the Mexican Oficial Rules.
In order for an agave distilled beverage to be considered as mezcal, it must fulfil a series of specific rules. The first one is that it must be produced in Mexico in one of the 9 certified states. The second one is that they must be made a 100% of agave.
Learn more in detail what mezcal is and how to tell its quality!
When it comes to the rules, mezcales must comply with what is exhibited in their labels. Clear information on the characteristics of mezcal. This are, for instance, the brand, the alcohol percentage, the kind of mezcal, the maguey species, where it comes from, etc.
In this analysis, PROFECO found breaches in the fields of alcohol percentage and net content of the liquid in the bottles.
Do you want to know the requirements to export mezcal? Access to our Mezcal Export Guide here!
The one that should not even be called mezcal...
Mezcal Gusano Rojo
- It does not meet the minimum upper alcohols (100 mg/ 100ml of anhydrous alcohol). It was found to vary from 83.7 to 128.6 mg/100 ml of anhydrous alcohol. This means that its production is not uniform. This suggests that the fermentation or distillation is not well done. Additionally, it can be assumed that they add alcohol from sources not related to the agave fermentation.
Would you like to import mezcal from Mexico? Learn the essentials here!
Less net content inside the bottle of mezcal
Mezcal Alacrán
Had up to 4.4% less del contenido neto declarado en su etiqueta.
Mezcal 1903
- Had up to 4.4% less net content than what it declares in its label.
Mezcal Amarás
- It had up to 2.5% less net content than what it declares in its label.
Mezcales Leyenda
- It had 2.3% less net content than what it declares in its label.
The mezcal industry from Puebla teaches us 3 lessons on mezcal sales.
Less alcoholic percentage than the declared in the mezcal bottle's label
Mezcal 1903
- It declares in its label to have 38% of alcohol. However, the study found that, contrary to its label, it has 37.2% of alcohol.
Mezcal Apaluz
- Declares in its label that it has 40% of alcohol. The study found a 38.6% of alcohol.
Mezcal Kilómetro 70
- Its label says 40%, while the study found a 39% of alcohol.
The study carried out by PROFECO reminds us the importance of verifying the labels of mezcal. This is important for safety and authenticity reasons. In exoap, we suggest you learn the characteristics of each kind of mezcal, kind of distillation, alcohol percentage, agave plants, and regions... in this way you will fin the world of mezcal more interesting!
Before we finish, we would like to set clear that we post this content in order to inform our readers. It is not our intention to affect any of the formerly mentioned brands. On the contrary, we consider that these results might be a reflection of the craft process that mezcal follows.
Sources:
Government of Mexico: Profeco detects mezcales that do not comply with the rules.
Issu: Consumers's magazine 451, pp. 8-36.
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